Juveniles At-Risk for Offending

The San Diego County Probation Department offers resources to parents, families, schools, and concerned friends who need help steering at-risk youth toward positive activities. The Department partners with community-based organizations located throughout San Diego County to offer assessments and case management at no cost.

Eligibility: Any school age child residing in San Diego County who demonstrates behavior which places them at risk of entering the Juvenile Justice System is eligible for services.

Referral Process: Any community member or professional (police, teacher, clergy, etc.) can refer a youth and family to the Community Assessment Teams for prevention services. Parents can self refer. If a youth is on probation, they should not have an extensive criminal or probation case record, but be fairly new to the system and the offenses should be relatively minor. Referrals can be made by phone, fax, or e-mail.

Range of Services: Services range from simple information and referral with linkage to community resources, to full-scale family assessments and up to 9 months of case management services.

Focus of Case Management Services: The focus of the assessment and case management services is to promote the family’s own efforts to utilize personal and family resources as well as neighborhood and community resources to meet its own needs for change. All services provided by Community Assessment Team members are provided at no cost to families. Services are strengths-based and family-centered.